Birth of the Shade
by zeldahearts1337
Summary: We know the story of the wanderer. We know the legend of the Hero of Time. What if the two weren't that different? What if, the downfall of a kingdom and the revival of a dearly loved one, were made by the same folly? R&R please! Sorry, on Hiatus...
1. Prologue

Prologue

A wanderer crossed the sandy plains of an unknown country. His horse, chestnut and white in color, occasionally whinnying with discomfort, snorted. Whether it was from the heat or the load of it's master and a oddly shaped bundle, who can say. The man wiped his brow, pulling back sweat-soaked blond hair towards the green floppy cap on his head. He had a tired look, but gave a small smile and whispered in a parched voice

"Almost there, Epona, almost there..."  
A small dot on the horizon that vaguely looked like a castle of sorts was steadily growing bigger.  
A good hour later, the man carefully led his horse down several flights of crumbling, stone stairs. The building was in ruin, and there was no doubt there was something keeping the decrepit place from collapsing. Pictographs and hieroglyphs were worn beyond recognition, but the man payed no mind. He had one goal, and one goal only. He passed indifferently by a shallow well, continuing to a wide chamber with ominous, yet majestic statues lining the walls. The statues seemed to be the only things remotely intact in the grand room, still looking as if they were made the other day, rather than eons ago. Epona bayed with a slight edge of nervousness as her master got off, then lowered herself so he could pick up the bundle. He picked up the bundle with a surprising delicacy and walked over to a crumbling altar. He placed the bundle on the altar, then removed the shroud with a small flourish.  
It was a young woman. She had porcelain skin and elfin ears that were edged by her golden hair, red lips that held a slight frown. She wore a pure white dress that would have been awe-inspiring and beautiful if it weren't for the marring rose of blood emanating from a wound where her heart was.  
"Zelda..." Link murmured, painfully remembering the last few moments before they were wretched apart.

* * *

"_Please! No!" someone screamed. Link turned, knowing something was wrong. He gasped then knotted his eyebrows in fury, a scowl darkening the hero's normally calm face. Zelda was wearing a pure white dress, the sign of the doomed, and struggling against several priests of Hyrule's church._

"_WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODDESSES IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" He yelled. There was no reason he knew of explaining why the Princess of Destiny should be treated like this, not when Ganondorf was on the verge of coming back. _

_The Head Priest, Agahnim, looked at Link and stated_

"_There has been a prophecy concerning the fate of Hyrule."_

"_THAT DOESN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Link drew his sword, "We need Zelda! Ganondorf is waiting just beyond the horizon! Without her, all we've done would be for __nothing__!" _

_The priest calmly looked at Link, a slight hint of evil glimmered in his eyes._

"_She is to die; that answer your 'question'?" Link briefly faltered, but held his angered gaze. "Not clear enough." he growled._

"_It has been prophesied that she," he gestured to Zelda, who was now being chained to a stone slab, "will lead you," he pointed to Link, "on a quest that will lead to your own destruction. Is that clear enough for you?" _

"_She would never do that!"_

"_That is what you think." The Head Priest walked over to the others, unsheathing the Sword of Sages, a weapon only used for the most heinous of crimes. _

"_YYYAAAAAAHHHHH!" Link wouldn't stand for anymore of this madness, and charged; shield and sword bared. He grunted when several guards tackled him to the ground, restraining him from hurting one of the most important people in Hyrule. _

"_You still care for this girl? Even though she means your doom __and_ _Hyrule's?" Agahnim asked in a surprised voice, "How pathetic to see such a valiant hero brought down like that." he then brought the sword close to Zelda's neck "Just as painful as it is to see how such an innocent princess could cause our downfall." He was about to slit her throat when an evil thought came. Lowering and twisting the sword until it was perpendicular to the princess's heart, he pulled it back. Pausing only to listen to the dreadful silence and relish in Zelda's terrified gaze._

"_NO!" Link yelled, managing to reach an arm towards the only woman he could ever love. _

_SHING! _

_A small gasp escaped Zelda's mouth. Then she let out a mournful groan when the Head Priest twisted the sword and pulled it out without mercy. The chains vanished, twinkling into oblivion. Zelda's body sank to the ground and rolled— right into Link's waiting arms. Blood was already spoiling the pristine fabric of her dress. _

"_Zelda... Zelda," was all a traumatized Link could say. For the first time in Hyrule's history, the hero cried. _

"_Link... I feel cold..." Zelda whispered, her voice the quietest thing imaginable. Link was searching his pockets frantically, hoping he had a potion or a fairy. _

"_Link..."_

"_Hold on!" Link looked around for some kind of help. Everyone was hesitantly shuffling around the both of them, ignoring the fact someone, no their __**princess**__, was dying. Link looked back at Zelda, her skin was sickly pale and her eyes were drooping. _

"_L...ink...I..." her eyes, beautiful blue and half-closed, had lost their sparkle. Her breathing stopped. _

_Link's heart shattered. Zelda had died in his arms that day._

* * *

Tears had filled Link's eyes. His hand trembled with anger. **He** was the Hero of Time, **he** had saved Hyrule from Ganondorf, and yet he couldn't stop the simple act of Zelda's life being taken from her. It made him feel small, pathetic. A feeling he loathed.  
Link tensed. Quickly turning and drawing the Master Sword, he focused his thoughts on the shadowy figures now in front of him. Epona whinnied and trotted back in alarm. Seeing the sword, the figures vanished as fast as they had appeared; dissolving into apparent nothingness.  
"Hm? Thou posses the Ancient Sword?" said a rumbling voice, neither fully male nor female. "So thou art mortal..."  
"Are you Dormin?" Link demanded; he traveled this far to ask for Zelda's life back, he wasn't going to take no for an answer. "I was told that in this place at the end of the world—there exists a being who can control the souls of the dead."  
There was brief silence.

"Thou art correct... we are the one known as Dormin..."

Link grimly remembered the dialect Dormin spoke, the Great Deku Tree used the same one.

"She... she was murdered. They said she had a cursed fate... Please, I need you to bring back her soul..."

"That maiden's soul? Souls that are once lost cannot be reclaimed... is that not the law of mortals? With that sword, however... it may not be impossible." Link's heart skipped a beat. "Really!"

"That is of course, if thou manage to accomplish what we askest."

"What do I have to do?"

"Behold the idols that stand along the wall... thou art to destroy all of them." Link was pulling out the megaton hammer, thinking it was a simple task, when Dormin added "But those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal..." Link put away the hammer, then asked

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"In this land there exists colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi— the idols shall fall."

Link grimly nodded. "But heed this, the price you pay may be heavy indeed."

"It doesn't matter. It never does."

"Very well... Raise thy sword by the light... and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat."

Dormin's voice faded away, and Link looked on towards the horizon. He stroked Zelda's cheek one more time as if hoping for a trace of warmth, a trace of life. Then drew the Master Sword and held it in the light of a setting sun. The beams pointed somberly to a series of cliffs, miles away.

"Well Epona, we have a long quest ahead."

Epona snorted in reply.

* * *

_**Me:**__Yay done! I know I altered a few of the lines and details, but that was to make this work a little better. I didn't alter any of Dormin's lines though, and I'm proud of that =) YAY TLOZ-STOC CROSSOVER! XP BTW this is OoT Link_

_**Link:**__...I don't like seeing Zelda __**dead.**__.. (shudder)_

_**Zelda:**__Well... it is quite __**interesting**__..._

_You know, I don't like seeing me dead either..._

_**Epona:**__(Neigh, whinny, snort-snort)_

_**Dormin:**_HAS BEEN BLOCKD FRUM TEH COMMENTS CUZ HEZ BAD GUY. XD LOL


	2. Minotaurus Colossus

Chapter 1: _Minotaurus Colossus_

Link and Epona galloped across the plains. The sun was lingering on the horizon as it always did during the sunset. Soon, the cliffs were near.  
Link reined in his steed. He couldn't get Epona through it all. An unearthly moan echoed from beyond the cliff-face. He got off, gave Epona a good pat or two, and proceeded to the most vigorous climb of his life so far.

Link scrambled across the ruined pathway; jumping and leaping across broken sections, climbing onto pathways the were raised above him.

After a good while of climbing, falling, and bruising, he finally got to the top. The earth trembled; a "hoof" of sorts slammed into the ground only feet away from where Link was standing. Looking upward revealed a rocky, living formation that was about 70 feet tall and resembled a minotaur from Greek mythology.

"So that's what they look like..." Link murmured, respecting how mighty, yet graceful his new opponent was. He then drew his sword and ran after the lumbering beast, making sure he had surprise on his side. He coughed in the dust that the colossi kicked up, but proceeded to climb up it's leg. Dormin's voice echoed in his head

"...Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the colossus. It's vitals shall be revealed..."

Link was having a hard time with that; the colossi had noticed him, and was trying vehemently to shake him off. But Link did notice that the area near the thing's foot (where he was trying to climb up from) was one of the "vital" areas. Holding on as hard as he could, Link held the Master Sword in his hand and began stabbing. Anguished bellows escaped from the colossi, and the foot eventually fell limp and useless.

Link climbed up further, pausing to rest his numb hands on a platform on the colossus' back. When he climbed up further, the colossi attempted to shake him of again. But he prevailed. Squatting shakily atop the beast's head, he began thrusting the Master Sword into it's skull, a glowing sigil telling him where to aim.

The colossus' wound spurted a black substance that wasn't liquid, solid, or gas. The only way one could tell it was there was the black color that sucked up the light, and the chill you got in your heart. The colossi fell, Link fortunately unharmed in the fall. Getting off, Link took one more look at the thing he killed, feeling the smallest pang of regret. _Should I really have done that?_ he thought, but only for the briefest instant. Streaks of the same dark energy had speared him, and he collapsed onto the ground, the sinister chill and black coloring the only things he could sense.

* * *

_**Me:**__Chapter one complete! Minotaurus Colossus has fallen! Calloo Callay! It's Fraptious Day! Oh wait, wrong story =P Anyways, each chapter will be titled after the Latin name of each colossi. Yep, all 16, each getting a chapter all to their own. with __(possibly) a grand finale 17th chapter and epilogue (epilogue is definite) ._

_**Link:**__Hands... So... Numb... So... Exhausted...(le collapse)_

_**Me:**__Link, you do realize by the time this fic is over you'll have climbed about 2 Empire State buildings?_

_**Link:**__(sits bolt upright, a horrified expression accompanied by a groan.)_

_**Zelda: **__(giving Link a pat on the back) Don't worry, you'll grow used to it. __I hope..._

_**Epona:**__(Impatient Snort)_

_**Dormin:**_STILL BLOCKED FROM THE AFTER CHAPPIE CHATS XP


	3. Taurus Magnus

Chapter 2: _Taurus Magnus_

Link awoke with a start. He was at the shrine he arrived in, but with no recollection how he got there. He staggered up, slightly drunk on that groggy feeling you always experience after sleep.

Suddenly one of the statutes glowed brightly and jumped at the surprising event, then sobered when Dormin said

"Thy next foe is...In the seaside cave...It moves slowly...Raise thy courage to defeat it."

Link nodded. He walked towards the exit to the shrine, and looked at Zelda's body again, pain welling in his chest. Funnily enough, it wasn't as painful as earlier. _It's because she's coming back_, Link reassured himself.

The sun was high in the sky, suggesting Link had been out cold for a night and a morning. He and Epona trotted down the steps out to the plain when Dormin stopped them.

"If thou should findst an altar similar to that one-" Link looked at the small altar at the front of the shrine; it looked rather like a seat. "offer a prayer before it and thy wounds shall be healed."

Then Link paused, wondering where to go. He pulled out a yellowing map, ragged edges, splotches from water damage, crackling from being dried far too rapidly. He crossed out the place where he defeated the first colossi, but made sure he could still see where it was in case he needed to travel through the area.

"One down... fifteen to go." he murmured. He held his sword up, and the beam, rather strangely, pointed back at the temple. _I guess I go around_, Link thought.

He and Epona trotted over, and found a path way leading downward to a shore. Another sword beam proved he should go that way, or at least, to the shadowy cavern below the path.

After several moments galloping, something seemed to stir in the cavern. Link continued, becoming a little uneasy. After a good bit of spiraling, the Link was crossing the beach he'd seen from above, completely engulfed in shadow.

He cursed, the cave was blocked. Whatever colossi was in there, he couldn't get to it. But then Epona reared and whinnied with fright; the stone was breaking. The colossi burst out, not even seeming to notice how it broke through several feet of solid rock.

It lumbered around, like a cow. That's when Link noticed the sigil; it was on the bottom of the thing's foot! Pulling out his bow, and taking careful aim, he fired.

The colossi bellowed, and the leg bearing the sigil collapsed. Taking his chance, Link ran over to the leg and began climbing. He was halfway up the leg when the colossi began it's lumbering, again. Link felt his stamina depleting fast, and thankfully stopped at a platform protruding from the leg. Next moment he held on for dear life when the colossi began shaking. Link held up his sword again, the next sigil was at the thing's head. He bit his lip, realizing there wasn't any footholds leading directly to the head; he'd have to go around to the back, then run along the thing's spine-like formation on top.

Link took a beep breath, and started on his way. Several times the thing tried to shake him off, but he held firm, Zelda driving his determination. Once he reached the head, he once again squatted atop the colossi and stabbed as if there was no tomorrow. This time it was a little trickier, as the colossi bellowed and shook it's head. The gas that poured out of it's head was black as night, and noxious. Link felt it's cold presence tainting his soul. Then the sigil faded, and Link found that the last one was back where he started.

"REALLY?" he yelled heavenward, annoyed at this turn of events. He was already pushing his limits, another trip around the massive beast could render him beyond exhaustion. But Link made his way back anyways, reminding himself it was for Zelda. At the next sigil, Link yelled and stabbed his sword deep into the beast.

The colossi was finally beaten, and it tumbled onto the damp sand. Link, unharmed from the fall, jumped off to see if Epona was okay. Once again, the tendrils of darkness invaded his body, and Link lapsed into another bout of unconsciousness.

* * *

_**Me:**__Another Colossus is dead! *DERP* Time for more chapters!_

_**Link:**__...Ugggggghhhhhhhhhh... I should have __**NEVER **__agreed to this..._

_**Me:**__Too bad, you did ;P_

_**Zelda:**__Don't worry Link, only 14 chapters left...!_

_**Link: **__*groans loudly, again*_

_**Dormin:**__SORRY PEEPS, STILL BLOCKED_


	4. Terrerstris Veritas

Chapter 3: _Terrestris Veritas_

Link groggily picked himself off the cold stone floor. He shook his head, wondering how long this would take. The Sages predicted Ganondorf's revival would come soon. He needed to hurry so he could get Zelda back before that could happen. He noted the next idol was gone. Who were those figures, standing so ominously over him?  
But he couldn't get going just yet. He felt sore all over, and still needed a little guidance from Dormin. He held a hand to his face, groaning from the headache he had. It felt like his skull was split open, but upon running his hand through his hair, there were just two lumps, presumably bruises. After all, the last colossus wasn't very gentle with him.  
"Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth..."  
Link groggily sat up. Dormin's advice was far from clear, and he felt lost. _I wish this was Hyrule..._ he thought blearily. Epona trotted over, and snorted in his hair.  
"I know, I know, Epona. We have to get going." Link sighed. He only paused to look at Zelda's limp figure, which now had two doves resting upon it. Link painfully remembered she loved doves.

* * *

Once outside, Link held the Master Sword to the light once again. He became confused when it pointed back from where he came. He decided not to question it, and once again went across the land bridge. Then the beam pointed him through a canyon, on the left.

"...Okay then..."

After another bout of riding, Link gasped at the lake in front of him. If Lake Hylia was awe-inspiring, he needed to travel more. There was a ruined... whatever right next to a central platform. On that central platform was a figure.

"Stay here." Link sternly told Epona, and he began the long swim to the next Colossi, which looked vaguely human. But it was definite it was massive. After a long climb onto the platform, Link drew his sword.

"Beast," he muttered, "You will die so I can save my country. So I can save my Zelda."

For the longest moments, Colossi and Hylian stared at each other, as if finding kinship in their ideals. Then the Colossi raised it's 'sword' of rock and earth, and swung it down at the small figure. Link ran, the end of the massive weapon barely missing him and crashing onto a curious plate. Link coughed and wheezed in the earth that was turned up. Seizing the chance, he scrambled onto the sword. He ran up the sword, and passed an area that looked like it wasn't supposed to be ruined and chipped. Link quickly dispatched the vital mark in it's midsection, then proceeded to the top. His hands bled from the abuse they received, climbing upon such sharp rocks, but Link didn't mind the pain. He had grown used to it.

"YEAAAAAAHHHHH!" He cried as he launched into the air, angling his sword downward-

and deep into the Colossi's skull.

It let out a pitiful moan, and tumbled to the ground. Link coughed in the dust it stirred, his eyes watered. He felt cold from the substance that poured from the Colossi. He didn't have time to ponder what he did, before the darkness overtook him again.

_**Link:**__Aggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I am __**NOT**__used to the pain yet...!_

_**Zelda:**__Don't worry Link, you'll have plenty of time before the next one..._

_**Epona:**__*Snort*_

_**Dormin:**__STILL BLOCKED. U MAD?_

_**Sora(?):**__Hey! What's- oh... sorry! wrong story! (A hand with a long blue sleeve yanks his ear and starts dragging him away. A voice is heard, distinctly shrewd, but female)_

_**?**__: Sora! What in Farore's name are you doing? We need to be on set for the next chapter of Looming Darkness, which by the way (to Me) YOU need to be directing (to Link and Zelda) you guys can rest a bit._

_**Me:**__... _

_I hate it when my characters get over-the-top..._


	5. Apology Letter

Hello, sorry if you love this story, but I'm putting it in hibernation for now. I've lost inspiration and/or willpower to finish these up for now. I'm currently working on Looming Darkness and The Bellringer of Kingdom Hearts, which are the two that aren't as Writer-blocked as the rest, and I have a few other finished stories that I think you'd enjoy(if you like my work).**  
**Really sorry if you like this. But I swear I'll get back on these before the year's over.**  
**-zeldahearts1337


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